Byrne’s Pie Factory perfects the popular pie after 82 years

AMERICANS have their hamburgers, the British have their fish and chips and we Aussies have our meat pies.

But be careful where you buy them.

A study has revealed that meat pies bought from popular supermarket chains contain less than one-third meat.

Mackay's Byrne's Pie Factory owner Rhondell Byrne said they had perfected the popular pastry treat after 82 years of business.

"From experience, yes, we have worked out the perfect recipe," Ms Byrne said.

"The machinery has been used since the 1950s and the staff know what they're doing."

She described the recipe they now used on a daily basis, which has developed over the years, as "a fine art".

"Our pies are freshly made and we get the meat delivered from Cannonvale," she said.

The study found only 27.6% meat in Woolworths Home Brand pies and 32.7% in Coles Smart Buys pies.

Ms Byrne said she used 100% meat in her product.

"The ordinary meat pie is 100% meat, unless it's something like a meat and vegetable pie, then we just use meat and vegetables" she said.

Flavoured pies, steak and kidney, curried beef and chicken, pepper meat pies, tomato and onion and bacon pies were "just a few" of the other pies they made.

If you prefer pasties or sausage rolls instead of a meat pie, Ms Byrne said the trick to making sure you got a delicious one was to ensure they were also hand-made, boycotting the product from large supermarket chains.